New Elbow

Two seconds after first time I heard Coldplay on the radio in NZ I was on the blower to my local CD store. At that stage they were virtually unknown in NZ but I recall thinking that here was something different and exciting and deserving of worldwide attention that it would sadly probably never receive. I started telling people about "Parachute" but it wasn't too long before the wave overtook me and Coldplay was playing in old-folks homes and taxis up and down the land of the long white cloud. I later learnt that Coldplay had never been a secret in England, having gone straight to number one in the charts.

Of course, popularity always creates a backlash. Anything beloved by the great unwashed is by definition trite rubbish. I've seen a fair amount of Coldplay bashing on this forum so I'm probably sticking my neck out a bit when I say that I still think that they are the real deal. The next post will no doubt begin with Coldplay : followed by something to do with Gwyneth Paltrow and neutron bombs. Fire away.

OK, so on Monday I borrowed a copy of Elbow's new album "cast of thousands". I had it for one night and I played it twice and now I am finding it very hard to get the tunes out of my poor head. From my brief exposure I can tell you that the album is stuffed to the brim with fantastic songs, the first track sounds like Coldplay in a monastery, the singer says "inshide" instead of "inside" (speech impediments seem to be a prerequisite of the genre), they are fond of long monotonic vocal phrases with monotonic vocal harmonies that are hypnotic and robotic and haunting, and I have to wait a week until I can hear it again.

If there is any justice in this world this album will have already gone straight to number one in your country and you will be shaking your head in disbelief at my naivete, but just in case, I urge you to have a listen. It's a bloody cracker mate !